Resin- Alpha Female- 40 Summers
She had settled herself in the treeline just in time to hear the howl echo through the narrowed clearing. Much grunting and groaning erupted and an ever growing roar of hooves thundered towards them. A feeling rose in the females throat and she wasn't sure whether it was adrenaline or anxiety, but before she could figure it out, it was too late. The caribou flew past them in droves.
Hrafn had been correct. Many stumbled and were trampled underfoot. Apparently they were going to be treated to tenderized meat for dinner. Seeing an opportune moment to trip up a large buck, Resin started forward, but was stopped by Ahote. His eyes were wide in obvious fear and he pleaded for her to call the wolves away from the stampede of hooves.
Her opportunity had been missed, so as she waited for another, she soothed his anxieties. "Do you trust me?" She licked his cheek then stared straight into his eyes with her own mesmerizing orbs of bright yellow. "Trust me now. No one is giving chase. We're startling them until they fall. The trees here are too thick for a herd of deer to run through. We'll be fine." And, with a quick nuzzle under his chin, she returned to her duties.
Though her opportunity with the buck had been missed, another fell right into her paws. A fat old female was running right towards her, it's mouth open and eyes rolled back to whites, panting in fear. Dashing out quickly, the already huge grey femme bristled her fur, making herself appear larger. With a snarl and a snap, the doe's legs gave way and she came crashing into the ground. Another reindeer, although it tried to avoid her, leaped right onto the doe's neck, ending it's life quickly and efficiently.
While still slightly in the open, she noticed that Xani had stopped and was staring at the oncoming mass of antlered, brown flesh. "Xani!" She called to the female but go no response. Since the pair had been hunting behind one another, she dove towards the light colored wolf and, using her shoulder, pushed her back into the trees just in time to keep her from getting trampled by a pair of snorting bucks. It seemed as though she had been slightly hypnotized by the onslaught of caribou, which Resin understood quite well. It happened to just about everyone when they saw such a spectacle.
Back in safety, Resin counted as many felled reindeer as she could. Satisfied with the number, she howled aloud, ending their hunt. The howl was crisp and clear and would be quite easy for the others to hear over the receding din of the caribou. The last of them had squeezed through the funnel and were making their way into another large clearing further down the way.
Not wanting to hurt Xani's pride, she said nothing about the small incident. Everyone walked out into the open, all eyes on the retreating deer. Again Resin made a count, this time of the wolves that had formed the hunting party. Ten, some still in their death throes. Everyone was accounted for and no one had been killed. Turning her attention to the heavily breathing Ahote, she smiled. "I told you to trust me."
Already each member chose a kill to call their own. Some were already eating, others were waiting for a signal to continue which Resin quickly gave them. A nod of her head and they dug in, finally feeding their protesting stomachs. The alpha chose a meal of her own. One of the large, tender calves would suffice. Before she ate, she made another full count of the meal that they'd acquired. It appeared that, with just a little bit of a chase and a scare, they'd managed to down twelve caribou. A damn good number. Much more efficient than a normal hunt.
As she settled herself in the snow between the front and back legs of the calf, fully prepared to dig in, she heard an enraged grunt from behind her. How the cow had managed to hide herself in the trees, she didn't know, but there wasn't much that could be done about it now. As some female caribou were, she was fully antlered. Her felt had fallen, leaving sharp barbs upon the ends. With another enraged grunt, she charged straight at Resin and what had formerly been her calf, head lowered.
Turning just in time, the Alpha saved herself from getting gored in her side, instead, she threw her weight into the impact to keep from getting thrown and trampled. One of the sharp points sunk into the left side of her chest and the force of the collision tore right through her flesh, leaving a nice bloody gash. The shadowy female hardly felt it. Adrenaline was doing it's job once again. With a snap of her powerful jaws, she successfully broke the doe's foreleg in two, bringing the big beast crashing to the ground.
After taking a second to breathe, she dove at the suffering animal and proceeded to end it's life, her long, curved canines ripping into it's throat. After a time the struggles ceased and the dark female sat, head slightly lowered, panting. The open wound in her chest still didn't hurt, but she began to feel the first warm, obvious throbs. Hey, if at the end of the day everyone was fed and she was the only one to come out with an injury, she was happy with that.
Hrafn- Male Hunter- 46 Summers
The playing field was set. He waited eagerly for the howl, his stomach giving a loud, long battle cry. It had been quite some time since he'd eaten. Great Wolves weren't supposed to go long without sustenance. Their bodies were just too big and needed a lot of protein to function. He'd gone longer before, of course, but still, he'd do anything for a meal.
The herd came rushing towards them and they did their duties. Everyone played their parts perfectly. He did note, however, Xani's trance like state. After more snarling and snapping, the herd passed and their job was finished. Rather than eat like the rest, he moved to the females side, his brow furrowed in concern. "Are you alright, Xani? You're not hurt, are you?" He thought that maybe she had been clipped by a passing deer and the force had shaken her about, making her cloudy. Upon inspection, he saw no wounds and was happy for that.
"Come and eat," he said, prompting her towards a nearby caribou. Hoping to lead by example, he moved to it and settled himself between it's legs, pulling at the soft underbelly to release the delicacies within. He wasted no time, filling his screaming stomach with the hot, steaming meat and other bits. The blood on his white chin was the only speck of color to the big black male. The look might have made him look incredibly silly when he shot a glance behind him to smile at Xani.
Commotion to his left tore the smile from his face. A distraught mother reindeer had sought vengeance for her dead calf. With a bellow and a charge, she rammed into the Alpha of his new pack. Of the many things that crossed his mind, one of them was 'I wonder if Xani will take over as Alpha female.' Before he knew it, he was on his feet and rushing to the scene. No one made it in time, however. Resin was clearly capable of taking care of herself. Within moments she had taken out the doe, bringing their kill count to thirteen.
From such a distance, he could see blood, but he wasn't sure if it was hers or the caribou's. She didn't seem to be in any sort of distress, so he hmmphd to himself and turned back to his meal.
